Journalism and politics

July 2009

Thursday, July 30, 2009

Ferociously busy with work so lax with the posting but here are a few items:

I'm looking at putting together an online resource which will collate all the information published regarding the blacklisting scandal. This is in conjunction with Spinwatch. If you've got info/ideas which you think should be on such a site let me know. Meanwhile a Blacklisting Support Group has been set up. See my article in tomorrow's Tribune or a piece on Labournet.

Since January 26 2006: Two new children for me, a new president for America, a new Prime Minister for Great Britain, Spurs still providing comedy light relief for football fans. It's also the day I put in an FOI request to the National Offender Management Service (NOMS). Yesterday I got a letter from the ICO saying they upheld my appeal that NOMS should release me the info I asked for.Three-and-a-half years. Including 250 days for them to carry out an internal review when the ICO says it should take 40 at most. Shouldn't be surprised as the BBC's Martin Rosenbaum made clear a year ago.Hopefully the results are going to end up in a newspaper article so that will be some satisfaction.

Finaly: via a tweet from Tom Watson MP this story
about state-sponsored spyware in Blackberrys. Why would you call your
surveillance app Interceptor though? Doesn't that kind of give the game
away?

The Audit Commission Act 1998Section 15 of the Act enables electors
and taxpayers of a particular borough or police authority area to inspect and
make their own copies of council and police authority accounts. These
rights of inspection extend beyond the authority supplying data spreadsheets,
listing income and expenditure, on request. The public has a right to
see the detailed contracts, invoices, receipts, books and bills that relate to
the accounts of the recent financial year.

They've got guidance on how to do this.

So, want to see the receipts for the chief constable's expenses claims or maybe the contracts for services with Southwest One? Request away.And if you'd prefer to have a look at Bristol City Council's paperwork then its open access period starts on July 27. Both Bath and Wiltshire councils have already started and Wilthire police also begins tomorrow. So get cracking (and let me know how you get on).

Thursday, July 16, 2009

Some two dozen union activists who had been blacklisted thanks to the activities of the Economic League and one of it's successors, The Consulting Association, got to confront Ian Kerr. The man who left the League to run the TCA until he was busted back in February.

Kerr arrived at court at 8.30am to ensure he got in before anyone else. He appeared from an ante-room at the last minute to stand in the dock and you could feel the ranks of those in the public gallery looking slightly unsure.

He looked his 66 years. Thin, 6ft, grey hair, grey suit, grey demenour, cocking his head to listen intently to the evidence, his eyes flicking nervously behind his glasses. His wife was in court. He had one legal representative. The prosecution had half a dozen. The public gallery was packed; but all they could see was his back flanked by some security guards. Kerr looked alone. The spotlight wasn't meant to fall on him.

For some of the guys in the gallery this man had been plaguing them for most of their working lives. The faceless corporations which employed him and financed the Consulting Association as their front were less tangible. Here was the physical embodiment of the secret blight that had been visited upon them.

If they were unsure at first that disappeared as the facts of the case were read out. There were regular heckles from the gallery. The TCA was funded, at one time or another, by some 40 construction companies - pretty much all the big names - and for 15 years it acted as private vetting agency collating gossip, newspaper clippings, union minutes, toilet graffiti and info from companies. If your name was one of more than 3,000 on their list you weren't getting in.

When the court heard that Kerr's assets amounted to £12,000 in savings, a house and state pension it was clear that there would be no punative fine. As the judge made clear at the beginning there is no case history to guide him. The £5,000 fine was met with shouts of disgust from the gallery. Kerr remained, as throughout, silent.

Meanwhile the best the ICO could do with the companies behind Kerr was to issue them a warning. The civil courts might have the last say on the matter.

There were only two ways out of court so there would be no avoiding his accusers for Kerr. After a short delay he came out the back hiding under an umbrella and got swiftly into a car and put a newspaper over his face. His was car was surrounded and suddenly the shouting took off. People really let rip. There were a few bangs on the car while the horn sounded continuously. After a few minutes a security guard stepped in and allowed the car to speed off.

This autumn the government will finally make good on its pledge to outlaw blacklisting and unions are likely to extract some compensation from the construction industry. This chapter is closing.

Shortly after Kerr left one worker told me that he had just taken a call from a colleague. He'd been given his papers from a construction job in Manchester for seemingly no reason.

A
judge fined Ian Kerr, the man responsible for co-ordinating the
operation, £5,000 but said while he was not the only person to blame he
was "in the firing line".

The Information Commissioner's Office,
which brought the case, said it was looking at issuing information
notices against 17 construction companies which financed the
blacklisting warning them as to their future behaviour.

There
were angry scenes as Kerr left the building hiding in the back of car
while some of those who had been blacklisted shouted abuse and banged
on the vehicle. Many said they were disappointed both at the small fine
and that the construction companies had not been prosecuted.

Wednesday, July 08, 2009

I'm off to leafy Cheshire next week to cover the sentencing of Ian Kerr of The Consulting Association - found guilty of data protection breaches by running a secret blacklist of trade union members.And yesterday Lord Mandelson unveiled the government's short sharp consultation which should lead to this practice being outlawed.It is a year since my article on blacklisting prompted the investigation by the Infomation Commissioner's Office; six years since the government last consulted and found no evidence, ten years since the original employment legislation was introduced but with the blacklisting clause held in abeyance and 90 years since the Economic League was founded which turned the blacklisting of 'subversives' into an industrial-sized operation.The main proposals are:To make it unlawful for organisations to refuse employment or sack individuals as a result of appearing on a blacklist; to make it unlawful for employment agencies to refuse to provide a service on the basis of appearing on a blacklist; and to enable individuals or unions to pursue compensation or solicit
action against those who compile, distribute or use blacklists.There is a clause exempting journalists who obtain blacklists as part of exposing their existence.

Here are some comments on yesterday's announcement:The Daily Mirror queries why this has taken so longThe Guardian links the story with a report calling for increased regulation to stop people being killed at work. An issue I covered for them back in 2007.Over at Personnel Today they set up a head-to-head on the issue between Ben Willmott, senior public policy adviser at the CIPD,
and Michael Gorrill, head of the Regulatory Action Division at
the Information Commissioner's Office. An interesting way of covering the story.Ian Manborde asks whether simply making laws is enough to eradicate blacklisting. This is something I believe Mandelson has acknowledged - that the process could be shipped overseas. That's not a reason for doing nothing though; that's a reason for making a start on the bits you can fix quickly.The TUC are happy, UCATT also pleased but add: "We are
disappointed that the consultation document fails to recommend any compensation
for existing victims of blacklists.”

Wednesday, July 01, 2009

News that MPs are going to have to reveal more about their second jobs has focussed on the shadow cabinet and those Labour ministers keen to keep raking it in while still in power.

I've got a more parochial interest in the new disclosures as my MP, James Gray, registers a business consultancy with Hakluyt and Company Ltd. A firm set up by, and stuffed full of, former MI6 officers which has been accused of infiltrating environmental groups and suborning journalists.

Hakluyt has been described by researcher Robin Ramsay as "a striking example of a semi-commercial relationship between MI6 and the City".

Gray describes the company as "a consultancy offering intelligence and stratgic advice". The section under which Gray's interest is listed by the House of Commons is defined under the old rules as:

...for registering outside employment,
professions and sources of remuneration (of more than £590
a year) not clearly covered elsewhere in the registration form.
Members are not expected to register the amount of their earnings
except where they are 'providing services in the capacity of a
Member of Parliament',
for example making representations to a government department,
providing advice on parliamentary or public affairs or sponsoring
functions in parliamentary buildings. In such cases they must
register the amount of their earnings within bands of £5,000
and, with the exception of speaking or writing engagements, must
also deposit for public inspection an 'agreement for the provision
of services'.

Update: A source tells me that Gray says he has only been paid arond £2,000 in total by Hakluyt for services rendered over the last few years. Seems a rather paltry sum.

Hakluyt, which also has a Foundation to provide a berth for its many ex-spook employees, was set up in 1995 with Christopher James and Mike Reynolds - both former MI6 officers - leading the way. It has been descibed as "providing leading British businesses with information
that clients will not receive by the usual government, media and commercial
routes" (source). For a secretive organisation it has been rather regularly fingered in the press. I guess in this business it's easy to make enemies.

Journalists Jonathan Bloch and Paul Todd give some more background on how the firm operates with the tacit approval of MI6 in their book Global Intelligence.

The Times talked about the firm in a wider piece on private investigators:

"More competition also appeared in 1995 in the form of Hakluyt, a
shadowy company run by former MI6 officers. Named after the mapmaker of
lore, the company is the self-styled Cazenove of the industry, with a
client base mainly of FTSE 100 companies."

And last year it reported that former Downing Street foreign affairs advisotr David Manning had joined the company. Meanwhile the FT has some nice details on the firm in a piece on corporate investigators.

All in all a very interesting company which stands at the intersection of commcerce and politics and which straddles the political and parapolitical world tand to whose benefit it is unclear.

I wonder how much it is paying James Gray and what it gets out of the deal?

• First, as a local newspaper, to be the city’s
most comprehensive source of news, sport and opinion. I intend to bring
together the best news sources into this site to give readers the
widest possible range of information – and produce as much original
journalism as possible to provide a new, distinct perspective on life
in this great city. “I’ll do what I do best… and link to the rest”

• Second, to be the best source of information on
the city – in effect, to be the Google of Bristol. Over the coming
months new sections will be added so that, whether you are a resident,
or just planning to visit, then I hope to ensure that the facts and
figures you need make your time in the city easier is available –
quickly and easily – through this site. If it isn’t, then get in touch
and I’ll make sure it will be in future.

• Finally, to provide businesses with a range of
online marketing solutions to help them grow. What does this mean in
plain English? It means, why spend big money on short-lived newspaper
ads with no idea if the money has been well spent? Bristol24-7 can
provide you with everything from new, interactive websites, to SEO,
Google Ad management, social networking and email marketing – with
honesty and integrity at heart, and at a price that puts the power of
the internet into the hands of even the smallest company, organisation
or group.

And the bit I appreciate, being a good NUJ member and all that, is this line:

At present though, I am not in a position to pay for contributions
to this site – and I will not ask for anyone to offer their work to me
for free. It is an unsustainable way to conduct a business and is
clearly not fair for contributors.

I hope in time that the site succeeds and I can pay for
contributions. Until then, all I can do is ask readers to email me if
you have any suggestions to improve the site, or are willing to
contribute to make this site a success. I promise I will read all
messages and reply, if necessary, as soon as I possibly can.

Good luck with it. You can also follow Bristol 24-7's twitter feed and the email is: editor@bristol247.com.